I. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to paint formulation and dispensing apparatuses.
II. Description of Related Art
There are many situations where it is necessary to add relatively small amounts of pigmented paint to a base color in order to achieve the desired end color for the paint. Such paint mixing allows a wide variety of colors to be mixed as well as matched without the necessity of actually maintaining an inventory of each of the separate end colors.
In one application, paint mixers are utilized in automotive paint shops for mixing the precise color necessary to paint an automotive vehicle. In one such type of paint mixing system, a receiving can for receiving the paint is placed on an electronic scale which generates an electronic output signal representative of the weight within the receiving can. The electronic scale is electrically connected to a processor which, in turn, has access to a database of different paint colors. Consequently, after the operator inputs the desired color, the processor is able to access the database to determine both the color and weight of additional pigmented paint necessary to be added to the receiving can to achieve the desired end color.
After the type and amount of pigmented paint is determined, the processor activates a mechanism which engages and then tilts an open paint can of the pigmented paint thus pouring paint into the receiving can. When enough paint has been poured into the receiving can, the mechanism tilts the paint can to stop the paint pouring process.
A primary disadvantage of these previously known painting systems is that the overall paint mixing system is expensive to obtain and maintain. Furthermore, these previously known paint mixing systems are prone to inaccuracies and are fairly slow in operation since the amount of pigmented paint, and thus the amount of tilting of the paint can necessary to dispense the paint, varies from one pigmented color and to another. Another disadvantage is that these systems require periodic software upgrades, as they do not utilize the original formulation software provided by the paint manufacturer.